I Cheated. Don’t Tell.

I am so glad none of the in-laws read this.

I was in charge of dessert for last night’s annual Christmas dinner.

And because I was still recovering from sugery and had an UBER-busy week at work, I totally cheated on my required Christmas dessert, red velvet cupcakes. 

I mean TOTALLY cheated:

Boxed cake mix is one thing.  An excellent thing, actually.

But generally I pride myself on scratch baking.  (There are days I believe it’s over-rated, however.)

Not only did I use a box, but I also used the 2-ingredient Weight Watchers recipe, using 12 ounces of pop (soda for you non-Michiganders).  Dr. Pepper is perfect for red velvet.

AND although I pride myself on my amazing frosting creations, I didn’t even make homemade frosting.  I used straight Cool Whip. 

Piped on with a 1M star tip like snowflakes. 

Cool Whip is secretly my favorite food product on earth.  Isn’t it beautiful?  Sniff. 

Shiny red wrappers and a chandelier cupcake stand and BAM!  Instant fancy dessert.

Three ingredients.  I’m a genius.  Okay, four.  I added Ghirardelli chocolate chips as a last-ditch effort, in vain, to add some class.

Then, when I got home from work yesterday with an extra half hour to spare, I made a homemade pumpkin pie and kept it all for ourselves.  Shhh.  Don’t tell.  I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to eat any real food for dinner so I made sure to have something soft, creamy & palatable for me to eat when we got home from the Christmas party. 

Our white elephant gift exchange was epic – “must be wearable on one’s head”.  The best ever!